Iceland's 'banned' advert could become most popular ever on social media by Christmas as clearance agency warns of copycats exploiting 'emotive' loophole

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Iceland’s ‘banned’ Christmas advert could become the most popular ever by the end of the festive season, as the clearance agency which judged it unfit for television said it was braced for copycats.

Clearcast, which approves advertisements for television to make sure they comply with the law, said that “ban” is an emotive word which has caused the campaign to go viral.

The advertisement, "Rang-tan", was not approved in its current form because it was made by Greenpeace, which is classed as a political organisation, and political advertising is not allowed on British television.

The emotive plea for British people to stop using palm oil has amassed over 30 million views across social media. The most popular Christmas advert on social media so far is the 2015 Sainsbury’s advertisement featuring Mog the cat, which has over 38 million views.

However, if the Iceland video featuring an orangutan voiced by Emma Thompson, continues to amass views at the current rate, it could easily beat this record by Christmas.

You won’t see our Christmas advert on TV this year, because it was banned. But we want to share Rang-tan’s story with you… 🎄 🐒Will you help us share the story?https://t.co/P8H61t6lWu

Clearcast, which approves advertisements for broadcasters including Sky, Channel 4 and ITV, has warned that due to this popularity, advertisers could submit adverts which are likely to be ruled unfit for television in order to start a viral social media campaign around the “banning”.

The video has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media thanks to celebrities and campaigners.

Talkshow host James Corden tweeted: “This commercial was banned from TV for being too political. I think everyone should see it x”. His tweet was shared over 300,000 times.

ITV nature presenter Julia Bradbury said she showed her children the advert, and tweeted: “It's crazy that the @IcelandFoods ad was banned for being 'too political' because it shows how deforestation for palm oil, has brought orangutans to the brink of extinction.”

Actor Ralf Little also implored his followers to retweet the video, tweeting: “Kudos to @IcelandFoods for taking the lead on this important climate issue - palm oil use killing 25 orangutans per day. This advert banned on political grounds. Not sure who they think will be offended, so, feel free to retweet.”

Over 100,000 Twitter users have made separate posts, urging their followers to share the “banned” video.

Clearcast has hit back, arguing that it has not “banned” the advert, telling the Telegraph: “We’re not a regulator and do not ban ads, we work with advertisers to get them on air in line with the rules. The sticking point here is that the ad has been made by Greenpeace and potentially breaches the rule that prevents ads being ‘inserted by or on behalf of a body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature’. We have not received information from Iceland or Greenpeace that would enable us to establish this either way.”

Iceland referred to the move as a banning, and tweeted: “You won’t see our Christmas advert on TV this year, because it was banned. But we want to share Rang-tan’s story with you…Will you help us share the story?”

Over 90,000 people retweeted Iceland’s post.

The regulator also said the “emotive” campaign around the alleged “banning” caused it to go viral, commenting: “It is certainly true that the word ban is an emotive term and has engendered a huge amount of coverage.

“We do have a concern that some advertisers will see how this has generated publicity and use it as a marketing tactic.”

The alleged “banning” has caused outcry, with over 700,000 people signing a Change.org petition asking Clearcast to reverse the decision.

Iceland marketing director Neil Hayes said he was pleased with the response from the public, commenting: "It’s been fantastic to see the story being widely shared and an overwhelmingly positive response for what is a really important message.

"We’ve been able to reach a huge number of customers without TV advertising, thanks to the level of support from campaigners, celebrities, the media and of course the public."